Start the New Year with 31 Days of Fun
January can be a tough month: the holidays are over, the weather can be cold and dreary and finding fun activities to do as a family can be a challenge unless you plan ahead and prepare for it.So many of us make resolutions to get fit, get healthy, lose weight or be more active. What about resolving to have fun as a family and focus on staying active in that cold, dreary month of January? 31 slips of paper in a jar, 31 index cards in envelopes, a calendar with 31 Post-it notes… Plan ahead for 31 days of fun!
Need some creative inspiration? Here are some ideas to get you started!
- Bundle up and take a walk. Even if it’s just 10 minutes or one trip around the block, it all counts toward energy balance.
- Have a game system? Have a family championship of indoor active games! One of our favorite games is Wii Sports – every age can bowl! Also try Wii Winter Sports like skiing to get everyone up and moving.
- Boot Camp! Have everyone do as many pushups and sit ups as they can. Pick a day to do this once a week to see what kind of progress everyone makes.
- Collect snow. Take cups and jars, bundle up and head outside to take snow samples from different parts of your neighborhood.
- Dance party! Turn on some tunes and have everyone show off their best moves!
- Beach party! Move furniture and breakables, lay down a broom or empty wrapping paper roll as the “net” and get a beach ball – time for indoor volleyball! Add to it by playing some Beach Boys tunes and keeping a pitcher of cold lemonade close by.
- Winter walk in the dark. Bundle up, grab flashlights and take a walk in the dark.
- Hula hoop contest! Everyone in the family takes turns to see who can keep the hoop going around their waist the longest. Mix it up by trying the hoop on your arm, leg or even your neck!
- Summertime Charades. Play a game of charades, but act out all of your favorite warm weather activities – swimming, playing in the sprinkler, laying on the beach, grilling out, etc.
- If there is snow on the ground, head outside to make a snow fort! Take those bowls, buckets and pails from last week’s snow collection expedition and pack the snow in. It’s just like building a sand castle but with snow!
- Make an indoor obstacle course. Use brooms, baskets, hula hoops, blankets, pillows and more to create an obstacle course that involves going over, under and through.
- Read a favorite book and then act out a scene from it.
Don’t let January become a month of sitting in front of the TV. Use those 31 days to have fun as a family and stay active in 2012!
What indoor activities does your family enjoy most on a cold winter day?
Liz Chandler is a wife and mother of two kids. She blogs about health for FitCity Indianapolis, and she has a personal blog, Eternal Lizdom. Liz works full time, and is involved in her church and community, and she still finds time to dance with her kids each day.